


Scarves in California

by Tobias_Moore



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Hurt Stiles, Isaac Lahey & Stiles Stilinski Friendship, Isaac Lahey Feels, M/M, Panic Attacks, Pre-Slash, Random & Short, Sassy Isaac, Sassy Stiles Stilinski, Season/Series 02-03, Short & Sweet, slightly AU, there's a yeti, they're both kind of awful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-02
Updated: 2017-11-02
Packaged: 2019-01-28 10:41:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12604768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tobias_Moore/pseuds/Tobias_Moore
Summary: While being held captive and waiting to be eaten by a Yeti, Stiles and Isaac hash out some issues.OrI was explaining Isaac's scarf to my sister and she asked my why he wears one if they're in California, and then this happened...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing. All characters belong to their respective owners. (I'm just borrowing them for a bit.)

_He was terrified._

 

Isaac slammed himself against the wall of ice trying and failing, yet again, to break it. Stiles let out a snort as Isaac backed up as much as he could in the small cave and ran at the ice again.

 

“Because, that’s totally working.” Stiles mumbled sarcastically.

 

He slammed his shoulder into it again and groaned when he saw that the ice hadn’t even cracked. He growled and threw himself against it again and again, growing more irritated by the second as his body hit solid ice. He started to punch and kick at the wall, hoping that it would somehow be enough to break through the thick layers of ice. When nothing happened, Isaac started to beat against it with his body again, letting out angry wails as his shoulder cracked and healed during his frenzied barrage on the wall.

 

“Dude. Hey, stop.” Stiles said from where he was seated on the cave floor. Isaac ignored him and continued to ram the wall repeatedly.

 

“Stop.” He tried again.

 

“Isaac, stop it!” Stiles yelled jumping up to grab Isaac’s arm. Isaac turned towards Stiles growling and ripped his arm away.

 

“It’s not going to work, okay? Even with your wolfy powers, the ice is too thick and, in case you hadn’t realized, it’s _magic_ ice. Brute force isn’t going to break it.” Stiles explained exasperatedly.

 

“We’ve been in here for hours and I don’t see you coming up with any escape plans, Stilinksi.” Isaac shot back growling again. Stiles rolled his eyes and turned towards the ice placing his hands on it. He closed his eyes and tried to feel through the magic barrier, but his mind was blocked by the cold.

 

 _Focus. Try to break through it._ Stiles thought. _Magic is believing. Magic is believing. Magic is-_

 

Isaac scoffed.

 

“What are you trying to do? Melt it with your hands? _Great idea_.” He said mockingly. Stiles huffed and turned to the other boy, narrowing his eyes.

 

“ _No.”_ Stiles responded through gritted teeth. “I’m trying to see if my spark can break through the magic. Now shut up so I can focus.” Isaac closed his mouth with a click and Stiles returned to his task.

 

_Break the barrier. Break the ice. Magic is believing. Break the barrier. Break the ice. Magic is believing. Magic-_

“Will that actually work?”

 

“I don’t know until I _try_ it. Now shut it.”

 

_Magic is believing. God, it’s freezing… Focus. Magic is be-_

“Is it working?”

 

“Seriously?!” Stiles spun around and glared at him.

 

“No, it’s not working! It’s fucking magic, dude. I can’t just flip a switch and turn it on. I have to be able to focus and see it working, but I can’t because you keep talking, my hands keep shaking because I’m fucking freezing, and I’m trying not to panic because we’re stuck in a tiny cave about to be eaten by a fucking yeti of all things, all because you couldn’t be bothered to listen to me!” Stiles ranted waving his arms around.

 

“So, this is _my_ fault?!” Isaac asked incredulously.

 

“Yes! It is!” Stiles shouted exhaustedly while throwing his arms in front of him.

 

“How is this my fault?! _You’re_ the one who kept mouthing off at the thing.” Isaac said jabbing his finger into Stiles’ chest. “If it weren’t for your big mouth, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

 

Stiles let out an unbelieving squawk. “If you would have just listened to me, and gone back to the loft with me when I _told_ you there was a freaking yeti out here, we wouldn’t be in here! But, no. you had to go all _‘This is werewolf territory, rah rah._ ’ at it and get our asses thrown, into a magical ice cave!” Stiles exclaimed slamming his hand against the ice wall.

 

“And I was just supposed to what? Take your word for it?” Isaac asked sneering at the human.

 

“Yes!” Stiles yelled. Isaac scoffed and folded his arms over his chest.

 

“You know, contrary to popular belief amongst the pack, I’m not completely useless! I may not have your guys’ strength or healing abilities, but I _do_ know what I’m talking about when it comes to supernatural creatures.”

 

Isaac snorted and rolled his eyes turning to walk to the other side of the small cave. He plopped down on the ground and looked at Stiles with a bored expression.

 

“You know what? That’s it. After we get out of here, I’m done. Done helping you guys, done lying to my father, done putting up with everyone’s whining and bullshit while I’m risking my own safety and wellbeing for you guys, and done saving your furry asses just to be ignored or to be treated like some weak little kid!” Stiles ranted while pacing. He stopped in front of the ice and punched it as hard as he could.

 

Isaac pulled his hands out of his pockets and started clapping slowly.

 

“Bravo!” He praised mockingly. “Quite the speech but, are you done yet?”

 

Stiles growled and lunged at him socking him square in the jaw.

 

“You’d all be dead by now if it wasn’t for me, you ungrateful bastard!”

 

Isaac roared and threw Stiles off him watching in horror as the boy slammed into the side of the cave. His stomach dropped when he heard how the human’s head bounced of the stone with a crack and slammed face first into the ground.

 

“Shit.” Stiles said groggily as he tried to sit up. He groaned as he bowled over and touched the back of his head. Stiles could barely think through the pain that was shooting from the back of his head down his spine. He pulled his hand back letting out a low agonized wail and Isaac’s stomach lurched again when he saw sticky red coating the other boy’s fingers. It was only moments before the thick sent of blood had Isaac kneeling next to Stiles’ hunched form.

 

“Fuck.” Isaac quickly pulled off his scarf, jacket, and shirt bunching the latter and pressing it to the gaping wound on the other’s head. Stiles turned his head to face Isaac with a slightly glassy stare as he reached up to hold the shirt to the wound.

 

“Fuck you, Lahey.” Stiles said spitting out a bit of blood from his split lip as he spoke. Isaac whined as the scent of blood became stronger.

 

“Shit, I’m sorry Stiles. I didn’t mean-” His words got caught in his throat as Stiles’ head lolled to the other side.

 

“No, no. Stay awake, Stiles!” He said hurriedly as he lightly slapped the side of the boy’s face. Stiles’ eyes fluttered open as Isaac grabbed his shoulders to sit him up. Stiles groaned again and tried to focus through the pain. His head was throbbing, and he was pretty sure he had a really bad concussion. This was going to be great to explain to his dad.

 

Isaac helped Stiles sit up completely and let the boy rest against the cave wall for a while. He reached up to pull the shirt aside, so he could see the wound, but Stiles pulled away sharply letting out another groan at the sudden movement.

 

“I’m just going to check it.” Isaac said resisting the urge to whine again. He reached for the shirt again, slower this time. When he lifted it, he was relieved to see the gash was much smaller than he’d thought. Isaac sucked a breath between his teeth as his hand touched Stiles’.

 

“Jesus, you’re freezing.” He looked around and picked up his scarf. He quickly wrapped it and his jacket around Stiles. The other boy sighed and hugged the jacket closer with his free hand. He was still freezing, but the added warmth was welcome.

 

After a few minutes Isaac got an Idea. He sat with his bare back against the wall of the cave next to Stiles and pulled at his shoulders.

 

“Wha’?” Stiles asked blinking at the other boy. The pain was awful, and it was hard to focus. Isaac huffed, and Stiles could’ve sworn he saw him blush. Maybe it was the concussion.

 

“You need to warm up and I run at a higher temperature.” Isaac explained looking anywhere other than at him. Stiles quirked an eyebrow, causing more pain, and stared at the boy. Isaac looked back at him and let out a long sigh.

 

“Just-” Isaac huffed as he pulled Stiles, as gently as possible, towards his lap. Stiles began to understand and slowly maneuvered himself until he was sitting between Isaac’s legs with his back pressed firmly to the other’s chest. Isaac wrapped his arms securely around him as Stiles rested his head against his shoulder. Isaac grimaced as he felt the blood-soaked shirt squish into his shoulder.

 

“Sorry.” Stiles mumbled. Isaac shook his head and hugged him tighter. The first few minutes were awkward for both boys but as the warmth steadily seeped from Isaac, Stiles relaxed into the hold. He wanted nothing more than to sleep but every time he closed his eyes for too long, Isaac would shake him gently.

 

They sat there for what seemed like hours. Stiles soon became restless, even through his pain, the silence was unnerving. He tried to move his head a little but was rewarded with another sharp pain running down his spine. He looked down and noticed the scarf that was wrapped tightly around his neck. He raised his hand to it and found that it was really soft and surprisingly warm even in the freezing cave.

 

“It’s so warm.” He whispered rubbing the end gently between his fingers.

 

“Hmm? Oh, yeah. It has those micro bead things in it. You know, the ones that heat up when you rub them together?” Isaac explained moving his arm up to touch the scarf. The loss of warmth where his arm had rested before shocked Stiles a little, but he was too distracted by Isaac’s long fingers to complain. He cleared his throat and looked away.

 

“Not that I’m complaining, because right now it’s awesome, but why would you need something like that in California, dude?” Stiles asked slurring his words a bit. He could feel Isaac shrug slightly from under him.

 

“It’s good when you get stuck in cold places.” He mumbled.

 

Stiles thought on that a moment and through the fog in his brain, something clicked. The scarf, Isaac’s attitude, his near panic when they first got trapped. Even after becoming a werewolf, even after watching his father get locked away for life, even after finding real friends and being taken in by Derek, Isaac still wore his scarf nearly every day. Isaac was still _scared._ A feeling of guilt blossomed in Stiles’ gut. They were stuck in, basically, a freezer.

 

And Stiles had _hit_ Isaac.

 

_No wonder he threw me into the wall._

 

“I’m sorry.” Stiles whispered pressing firmly against Isaac. The arms around him tightened and he heard a quiet whine. Stiles swallowed the lump in his throat and used his free arm to hug Isaac’s arms closer.

 

 _I’m scared, too._ The words went unspoken as they sat there holding each other.

 

Stiles was on the verge of passing out completely when he felt Isaac startle behind him. A few seconds later he heard loud thumping against the ice. His heart sped up and panic began to grip the edges of his mind until he heard a familiar voice.

 

“Stiles?” Scott called through the wall.

 

“Isaac?” He heard Derek call at the same time.

 

“We’re in here!” Isaac and Stiles shouted in unison. Relief flooded in both boys as they heard more pounding and, eventually, the shattering of Ice. They both felt like crying as the pack rushed in. Stiles didn’t even care that they were being loud and kept jostling him. He didn’t care when Scott started to freak out and yell for someone to call an ambulance. Hell, he didn’t even care when Peter was the one to practically carry him out of the cave. He was so glad they were there.

 

Stiles looked over to where Derek was hugging Isaac tightly after wrapping him in his leather jacket. Isaac looked over to him as well and the boys smiled softly at each other.

 

_We’re safe._


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few days later...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing. All characters belong to their respective owners. (I'm just borrowing them for a bit.)

_He was finally home._

 

After all the insanity that happened after he and Isaac were saved, all Stiles wanted was to sleep in his own bed.

 

As he slowly made his way up the stairs to his room, all he could think about was the beautiful backs of his eyelids. Really, they were gorgeous. Especially after the week he’d had. After spending seven hours in a magical ice box, he’d spent the last three and a half days at the hospital getting stitches then had to be kept overnight because of his concussion.

 

“Hey, kiddo, you take it easy on those stairs. I’m going to order some pizza before I have to head to work. Do you need anything?” The Sheriff asked from the bottom of the stairs. He looked tired and worn but Stiles guessed that he’d look like that too if he got a random call at work telling him that his only child was unconscious in the back of an ambulance.

 

“Nah, dad, I’m just going to bed. But can you save me some pizza?” Stiles smiled softly at his dad. The sheriff had been furious at Stiles for going into the woods at night, but after Stiles had broken down crying and hugging his dad like he did when he was six and he got lost in the grocery store, the man had eased up on him.

 

“Sure, son.” The sheriff smiled back a little. The worry in his face had decreased since Stiles had first woken up, but he looked at least a few years older than when Stiles had seen him last.

 

After explaining to his dad that he had fallen while on a hike with Isaac, the sheriff had refused to let him anywhere out of his sight. While it was comforting to know that his dad still loved him, it was kind of awkward having to use the bathroom with the door open just so his father wouldn’t worry about him slipping.

 

Melissa had only been _slightly_ better. She came to check on him every hour, even after he was moved upstairs to his own room. She had scolded him for being careless and had almost hugged him to death when she found out what _really_ happened. Stiles was going to put super glue in Scott’s lunch when he went back to school.

 

As he made it to the top of the stairs, Stiles leaned against the wall and stood for a bit. His concussion was gone and the gash on his head was healing, but Stiles was still in a lot of pain. Having your brains scrambled around by a panicking werewolf will do that to you apparently.

 

Stiles sighed at the thought of Isaac. He hadn’t seen the wolf, or any of the pack other than Scott for that matter, since they’d rescued him. It stung like hot iron no matter how much Stiles told himself that it was fine. He took a deep breath and pushed himself off the wall.

 

When he finally got to his room, Stiles threw his stuff in the general direction of his desk and climbed into bed. He groaned happily as the mattress gave in a little and let himself sink into the comfort of a _real_ bed. He grabbed the edges of his blanket and wrapped them tightly around himself turning himself into a burrito and settled his aching head down on his soft pillows.

 

Stiles was just barely asleep when he heard a knock at his door.

 

“Hmm?” Stiles responded without waking up much.

 

“Hey kid, the food’s in the fridge downstairs. I have to head out now, but you call me if you need anything, okay? Anything at all, son.” The sheriff’s voice was soft and hushed and Stiles appreciated that so much.

 

“M’kay, Dad.” Stiles responded from somewhere within his cocoon of warmth. He heard a soft huff that sounded like a laugh, then some footsteps.

 

“Hey, Dad?” Stiles called as he sat up a bit. The sheriff poked his head around the corner and raised an eyebrow.

 

“I love you.” Stiles said as genuinely as he could manage with the pain in his skull. His dad’s face softened and he smiled gently.

 

“I love you too, kiddo.” His father replied before patting the door frame and walking away. Stiles stayed alert until he heard his dad’s cruiser pull out of the driveway then bundled himself back up and went back to sleep.

 

He woke up a few hours later to the feeling of being watched. When Stiles opened his eyes, he startled a bit at the sight of Isaac sitting in his desk chair. He groaned as his head began to throb again and snuggled back into his pillow.

 

“Isaac, buddy, you’ve been hanging around the Hales for too long.” He mumbled. Isaac let out a huff of laughter and stood up. Stiles watched him as he walked to the edge of the bed.

 

“Sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were okay after… after I-” Isaac cut himself off and looked away clearing his throat and stuffing his hands into his jacket. The same one Stiles had been wearing the last time he’d seen Isaac.  Stiles smiled and patted the bed next to his cocoon.

 

“I’m okay, it was just a concussion and some stitches. I’m a spaz, remember? It’s nothing I haven’t had before.” Stiles joked lightly as the wolf sat down. Isaac smirked at him and took his hands out of his pockets.

 

They both ignored the obvious lie.

 

“So, we dealt with the yeti.” Isaac said changing the subject.

 

“Oh, yeah?” Stiles asked rolling onto his back as gently as he could. He managed not to wince as the throbbing worsened.

 

“Yeah. Luckily for us, some spaz had left the info about how to kill it laying around before he decided to go on some crazy hiking trip last week.” Stiles let out a snort and smacked Isaac lightly as the boy grinned and started to laugh a little. He had a nice laugh.

 

“Remind me to tell Derek where to shove it the next time he sends me out on patrol with some monster hanging around.” Stiles said closing his eyes and resting his arm above his head.

 

“Noted.” Isaac responded with a smirk to his voice. They sat there for a while in comfortable silence. Stiles was almost asleep when he heard Isaac start talking again.

 

“Huh?” Stiles asked groggily. He heard Isaac take a deep breath before repeating himself.

 

“I said, I don’t think you’re… you know. Useless.” Isaac said quietly. “And, you’re right. I would be dead if it wasn’t for you. I- I don’t know about the rest of the pack, but I know. I _know_ you aren’t useless. And I’m sorry that you always end up in danger because of us, and I’m sorry that you’ve had to lie to your- your dad. And I know, you have every right to leave if you want to. Everyone kind of treats you like shit or forgets you exist, but… Maybe. Maybe, if you wanted to stay- only if you wanted to, I could help you, with everything, instead of you being alone.”

 

Isaac looked close to tears when he finished. It shocked Stiles, seeing the boy so vulnerable. Stiles thought about it for a minute before it dawned on him.

 

 _Maybe I don’t have to be alone either._ Hung unspoken between them.

 

Stiles sighed and unwrapped himself from his blanket. He sat up as slowly as he could and reached out for Isaac who happily returned the hug. It was a nice hug, the kind of bone crushing all-consuming ones that you get from family members at the holidays.

 

“I’m sorry.” Isaac whispered. Stiles squeezed as tight as he could and rested his head on Isaac’s shoulder. He pulled back slowly and scooted to one side of the bed. Isaac looked at him with a confused expression until stiles rolled his eyes and pulled the covers back on the other side.

 

“Lay down, Lassie.” Stiles said patting the bed. Isaac growled playfully at him and shucked his coat and shoes before obeying.

 

“Good dog.” Stiles said in a baby voice and yelped when Isaac smacked his arm.

 

“One more dog joke, Stilinski, and I’ll tell Derek that you spilled red bull on his bestiary.” Isaac growled.

 

“You wouldn’t.” Stiles said narrowing his eyes.

 

“One more, Stilinski.” Isaac repeated smirking. Stiles pouted huffing out a ‘fine’ and rolled over to face away from Isaac.

 

He’d forgotten about his head until he heard Isaac gasp quietly. Stiles was about to roll back over when he was stopped by Isaac’s cool fingers against his head.

 

“Does it hurt?” Isaac whispered. Stiles sighed and figured that, even if he lied, Isaac would know. Damn wolves.

 

“Yeah. It does.” He said simply. Stiles heard a quiet whine and then felt Isaac wrap his arm tightly around his body and pull him close. Normally Stiles would make a bad touch joke, but he was _so_ tired, and Isaac was _so_ warm.

 

Stiles expected pain when he felt Isaac’s hand lay on his head, but was surprised when he felt a warm soothing feeling seeping from Isaac into him. He moaned quietly when the pain became blissfully numb. Isaac laughed quietly behind him and rested his head on Stiles’ shoulder.

 

Stiles leaned his head slightly to the side and Isaac growled happily and began to scent the human. Stiles saved the purring noises in his mind for blackmail later. After a few minutes, Isaac removed his hand and wrapped his arm around Stiles with his other. Stiles smiled and gripped Isaacs arms lightly allowing himself to drift off. Isaac soon followed, surrounded by the scent of safety and Stiles.

 

_We’re not alone._

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea where this came from. It just sort of happened? I'm going to try to make a second part to it. Like the day after or something.


End file.
